Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2990
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ بْنُ حُمَيْدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُوسَى، عَنْ إِسْرَائِيلَ، عَنِ السُّدِّيِّ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي مَنْ، سَمِعَ عَلِيًّا، يَقُولُ لَمَّا نَزَلَتْ هَذِهِ الآيَةُ : (إِنْ تُبْدُوا مَا فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ يُحَاسِبْكُمْ بِهِ اللَّهُ فَيَغْفِرُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ ) الآيَةَ أَحْزَنَتْنَا قَالَ قُلْنَا يُحَدِّثُ أَحَدُنَا نَفْسَهُ فَيُحَاسَبُ بِهِ لاَ نَدْرِي مَا يُغْفَرُ مِنْهُ وَلاَ مَا لاَ يُغْفَرُ فَنَزَلَتْ هَذِهِ الآيَةُ بَعْدَهَا فَنَسَخَتْهَا ( لاَ يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلاَّ وُسْعَهَا لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ ).
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Al-Suddi said: ‘An unnamed person who had heard ‘Ali report that when this verse was revealed—“Whether you disclose what is within yourselves or conceal it, Allah will call you to account for it; then He will forgive whom He wills and punish whom He wills” (Qur’an 2:284)—we were distressed.’ He said, ‘We asked, “If one of us has a thought within himself, will he be called to account for it? We do not know what of it will be forgiven and what will not.” Then this verse was revealed after it, abrogating it: “Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity. It will have the good it has earned, and it will bear the evil it has acquired” (Qur’an 2:286).’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The chain includes an unnamed intermediary between al-Suddi and ‘Ali; the source attributes the abrogation explanation to this transmitted report.